Robert Southey

Robert Southey (1774–1843) was an English poet, historian, and biographer associated with the Romantic movement. Born in Bristol, he studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where his early radical views helped shape his writing. Southey became closely linked with William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge as part of the Lake Poets, living for many years in Keswick in England’s Lake District. He wrote long narrative poems, including *Thalaba the Destroyer* and *The Curse of Kehama*, and produced extensive prose works such as biographies and histories. Appointed Poet Laureate in 1813, he held the post until his death.